A true leader of men

P Lal

KPS GILL is no more. Long live KPS Gill. This story is a small tribute to a big man. 

In 1992 Gill, who was the DGP of Punjab, decided to raise a commando force to conduct specialised operations against terrorists. Five battalions had to be raised. He appointed me as IG to head the new force. I was apprehensive. I knew of the ‘methods’ in vogue to ‘tackle’ terrorists. I didn’t want to be part of that. Mustering courage, I walked up to him and expressed my desire to be spared of such ‘duties’. 

‘Who put such ideas in your mind?’  he asked me, visibly displeased. ‘Your force will deal with real operations only,’ he assured me. And true to his word, he never asked me to do anything that was against this assurance. In various operations and genuine encounters, I lost 23 of my men from 1992 to 1994. 

One such encounter took place in Batala district. Men of the 3rd Commando Battalion, along with those from other forces, engaged the terrorists over several days, killing many terrorists. The security forces, too, lost some of their men.

As per practice, the commandos who showed valour and grit were to be promoted to the next rank within 48 hours. That was done by me.  There were about 24 of them.

The Commandant of the battalion suggested to me that the pipping ceremony should be done by the DGP himself. I requested Gill, and he readily agreed.

The boys stood in formation in the lawns of the Canal Rest House, Amritsar, which had been temporarily converted into the DGP’s residence during his visits to the city. As the appointed hour approached, the Commandant reported to me that the men were ready. I thought of inspecting them before making the final request to the DGP to do the honours.

As I inspected them, I was dismayed. The turnout was poor and they were shabbily dressed. Their uniform was not even properly ironed; shoes were dull. 

I discussed the situation with the Commandant. One alternative was to get the ceremony postponed. We decided against that. The principle followed at that time in the commandos was that the rewards should be prompt.

We went to the DGP and I told him apologetically, ‘Sir, the boys are not properly turned out.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ he countered.

‘Sir, their uniform and accountrements are not spic and span.’

‘They needn’t be,’ he said nonchalantly. ‘The boys have come from a field area after an arduous operation. How can you expect them to be spic and span?’ he almost admonished me.

He did the pipping ceremony. The boys felt encouraged. And in the process, I learnt an important lesson in leadership!